LONDON: Shakib Al Hasan, ranked as the world's No. 1 limited overs all-rounder in 2009, has considerable cause for optimism at the World Cup opening in the Bangladesh capital of Dhaka Saturday. The only Bangladeshi to play county cricket, Shakib captains a team with the best chance of upsetting the established order and securing a quarterfinal place. Only a significant upset will prevent defending champion Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan and Sri Lanka qualifying from Group A, which also includes Zimbabwe, Canada and Kenya. Group B, containing Bangladesh, England, India, South Africa, West Indies, Ireland and the Netherlands, is a different proposition. Bangladesh defeated India, its opponent in the opening match, at the Caribbean World Cup four years ago while Ireland eliminated Pakistan. Late last year Shakib decisively outplayed his opposing captain Daniel Vettori during a battle between two fine left-handed all-rounders in a five-match home series against five-times World Cup semifinalists New Zealand. His team responded to their captain's example by trouncing the Kiwis 4-0 and followed up by beating Zimbabwe 3-1. Bangladesh's arguably premature admission to the ranks of the world Test nations was accelerated by an extraordinary victory over 1992 champion Pakistan on the final day of the group stages at the 1999 tournament. The game was one of several involving Pakistan to come under investigation when a match-fixing scandal erupted in the following year, resulting in a life ban for former captain Salim Malik who played in the Bangladesh match. There were no such suspicions when man-of-the-match Mashrafe Bin Mortaza and a trio of left-arm spinners took Bangladesh to a commanding five-wicket win over India in Port of Spain in the first round of the 2007 tournament, a result which took it through to the second round at the expense of the Indians. Mortaza, Bangladesh's leading pace bowler, has been omitted from the 2011 squad because of a knee injury, sparking a half-day general strike in his home town of Narail by irate fans. Ireland's victory over Pakistan in 2007 was the 10th by an associate member over a test nation at the World Cup. The Irish went on to beat Bangladesh and only rain denied them a great opportunity of defeating eventual champions England at last year's Twenty20 World Cup, also in the Caribbean. Ed Joyce, who played 17 One-Day Internationals for England, will represent his native country in a squad containing nine members of the 2007 side. “What is different this time, from 2007, is that 13 of the 15 earn their living from cricket,” said coach Phil Simmons, a former West Indies international all-rounder. “That's practically a full time squad. We were also able to spend a month in India acclimatising and that will stand us in good stead.” Zimbabwe has not played Test cricket since 2005 because of a series of internal crises created by the country's political turmoil. Some stability has returned to the domestic structure and last year Zimbabwe recorded one-day wins over India, Sri Lanka (albeit against young, inexperienced squads) and West Indies. The Zimbabwe authorities were disappointed when all-rounder Sean Irvine made a late decision not to resume his international career but captain Elton Chigumbura still believes his side can qualify for the quarterfinals at the expense of New Zealand. Canada, Kenya and the Netherlands cannot realistically be expected to make an impact, although the Kenyans caused a sensation at the 1996 World Cup when they beat West Indies and they also advanced to the semifinals in 2003 helped by the points they gained when New Zealand declined to play in Nairobi because of security fears. Cricket has regressed in Kenya since. It is, though, still able to field 41-year-old all-rounder Steve Tikilo, its captain in 2003, who will be playing in his fifth World Cup.
